Dealing With Common House Training Problems - Scent Marking
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
House training your dog can come with a whole bag of unexpected problems. Maybe you've had dogs your whole life and housebroke them all with ease, but now your at a loss. Part one of this article covered dogs that urinate from either excitement or fear. Part two is going to cover the issue of scent marking.
What is Scent Marking?
This is where a dog is "marking" his territory by peeing on something. He is leaving his scent there to let everyone know that this is his house(or yard) and you had better recognize that. This issue is actually related to the issue of dominance rather than house training. Although the result of the problem is the same as the result of poor house training it is not the same cause. This is one of the most widespread problems among dog owners and is difficult to know what to do about. Here you will find some practical advice on dealing with this common problem.
First things first. We need to find out if this is truly a scent marking problem or a general house training problem. Your dog is probably scent marking, and not just peeing, if:
The amount of urine is very small and is directed at specific objects rather that just on the ground. Some common marking areas are doors, furniture and walls.
If you have a male dog over six months old and he hasn't been neutered yet he may be thinking he is becoming the alpha. Unneutered dogs tend to be very territorial and you may want to expect a little bit of scent marking. Neutered and female dogs may exhibit some marking behavior, but much less frequently. Spayed females will rarely, if ever, exhibit this behavior.
If it doesn't matter how often you take him out for a bathroom break.
If he often pees on new things in the house. These might include new clothes, shoes or other possessions. New furniture is an almost definite. He may also target your friends shoes if they take them off, especially if they have dogs.
If you live with multiple dogs and there is a conflict, or dominance issues between them. This is particularly true if there are unnuetered or unspayed dogs in the house.
How do I fix the problem?
The first step you want to take is to spay or neuter all dos in the house as soon as possible. Neutering your dog early, preferably around six months, might help you to stop the problem before it starts. Dogs that already have the problem may not stop from being neutered, but it will calm there urge to mark and make it easier for you to stop.
Always clean the marked areas as soon as you can and as thoroughly as possible. There are a great many products on the market that are designed specifically for this. You should try to avoid using an ammonia based cleaner, or any other cleaner that smells anything like pee. This will just make the dog come back quicker because he thinks someone else covered his scent marking.
Dogs will usually remark the same places over and over. You should try to change the way your dog thinks about these places so that he will stop trying to scent mark them. There are several things you can do to help:
Start feeding the dog next to a spot he commonly marks
Put his doggy bed right next to the area
Start playing with him there
Groom him in that area
Spend time there to show your dog that it is actually YOUR area
Since this is really an issue of dominance the best way to curtail it is to establish yourself as the dominant one. This will help in the case of having one dog, but will be particularly helpful if you are dealing with a power struggle between dogs. In the case of the power struggle you can use your position as alpha to settle the dominance dispute. All you need to do is to favor the dog that you consider dominant. You should choose the one who generally wins there little competitions for toys or staring contests. You can favor him by letting him eat first and always greeting and giving him affection first. The other dog will learn.
Establishing yourself as the pack leader will help with the issue of scent marking in all instances. If the dog sees it as your territory, he will not mark it. He will expect it to smell like you, not him, since you are the ruler there.
There are many ways to establish yourself as the alpha, or pack leader. To learn more about this topic please read my article How To Gain Your Dog's Respect
